This Korean-language article, titled "Content Analysis of the New York Times on Korean Restaurants from 1980 to 2005," examines Americans' perceptions of Korean restaurants by analyzing New York Times articles, which reported on 90 Korean restaurants in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area between 1980 and 2005. The newspaper focused on a few specific New York City Korean restaurants, including Woo Lae Oak, Han Bat, Do Hwa, Bop, Cho Dang Gol, Hangawi, and Dok Suni. According to the New York Times, Americans were largely dissatisfied with the language barrier, inadequate dessert selections, shabby interiors, and other aspects of service in Korean restaurants. Additionally, the Times reported that Korean restaurants had not done a good job of promoting themselves.

It should be noted that this article is somewhat dated. Since the original publication of this article in 2008, the Korean government has prioritized promoting Korean food as one of its global brands (alongside the Korean language and K-pop). The popularity of Korean cuisine and restaurants among non-Korean customers has exploded in the New York-New Jersey area, as well as in various other locales around the United States. Additionally, it seems that New York-New Jersey Korean restaurants have shown marked improvement in terms of service, English-fluency, interior aesthetics, and marketing/promotion.

We have previously posted other articles by Kyou-Jin Lee and Mi-Sook Cho about Korean food and restaurants on the Korean American Data Bank. Professor Pyong Gap Min, the director of RCKC, is writing a chapter on Korean food in the New York-New Jersey area for a forthcoming book, and he has benefitted immensely from this particular article.

This article was originally published in the Journal of Foodservice Management Society of Korea, Vol. 11, No. 1. We would like to thank the journal for allowing us to post this article on the Korean American Data Bank.